This invention relates to a lubrication system for the final drive of a crawler tractor or other earthmoving equipment and more particularly to a lubrication system including pump, filter and connecting conduits self-contained in the cover for the final drive.
Because of the heavy stresses and often hostile physical environment in which crawler tractors or other earthmoving equipment operate, their lubrication systems have been extensively developed to maintain the continuous flow of clean lubricants to their working components. This is especially true for their final drive systems, which typically incorporate a vehicle powered pressure lubrication pump or pumps and which often incorporate a filter in the system to remove dirt from the lubricants. In the majority of such systems the lubrication pump is mounted inside of the final drive housing since it is driven by the vehicle's sprocket drive. Among the most recent of such systems are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,767,014 and 3,857,461.
While the prior art lubrication systems have proved effective they have been expensive to install and, because of their location inside the final drive housing, inaccessable and difficult to service.